The present invention generally relates to storage units, storage mediums and identification information recording methods, and more particularly to a storage unit which records on a portable recording medium identification information peculiar to the portable recording medium, a computer readable storage medium which stores a program for making a computer record such identification information on the portable recording medium, and an identification information recording method for recording the identification information on the portable recording medium.
In order to prevent unauthorized copying of software, there is a technique to permit operation of the software only on a specific computer. For example, a key is paired with the software, and the unauthorized copy of this software is prevented by confirming the existence of the key during operation of this software. However, according to this technique, an independent key is necessary for each software, and this technique is thus not suited for a case where a large number of software is used.
On the other hand, a technique using information which specifies each computer as the key has been proposed. For example, a unit ID information which differs for each computer, even among computers of the same kind, is prerecorded in the software when installing the software or when shipping the software. According to this proposed technique, the unit ID information is read during operation of the software, and the use of the software is permitted only when the read unit ID information matches the unit ID information prerecorded in the software, so as to prevent unauthorized copying of the software.
However, the following inconvenience occurs if the software is recorded on a portable recording medium according to the proposed technique described above. In other words, it is not uncommon to record the software on a portable recording medium having a large capacity, but the portable recording medium in this case is not an unauthorized copy, and it should be able to operate the software recorded on the portable recording medium on any computer of the same kind. However, when the proposed technique described above is employed, the portable recording medium will be recognized as an unauthorized copy on computers other than the registered computer, and the software will not operate on computers other than the registered computer.
The above described inconvenience can be eliminated by providing a means for specifying the portable recording medium itself. For example, each portable recording medium itself can be specified by adding a different medium ID on each portable recording medium by carrying out an irreversible recording by a stamper or the like at a production stage of the portable recording medium. However, according to this method, an additional process is required to add the medium ID with respect to the portable recording medium which is already completed and inspected, thereby complicating the production process and also increasing the production cost. In addition, this method cannot add the medium ID on an existing portable recording medium.
On the other hand, the following advantageous effects can be obtained when the medium ID is added to the portable recording medium.
The contents stored in the portable recording medium can easily be copied. For this reason, the contents of an original portable recording medium which stores an important document such as a contract can be copied completely to a copy storage recording medium, and the contents of this copy storage recording medium can be modified in part. In such a case, even if a modification of the contents of the original portable recording medium is made impossible, the contents of the copy storage recording medium can easily be modified. Accordingly, when the contents of the copy portable recording medium are modified, there is no means of knowing which portable recording medium is the original and which is the copy. However, when the medium ID is added to each portable recording medium, it is always possible to know which portable recording medium is the original and which is the copy.
In addition, when recording software or data on the portable recording medium, the medium ID can also be recorded as a key which is used when making a reference to the contents of the portable recording medium. In this case, when the medium ID of the portable recording medium itself and the medium ID which is recorded as the key when recording the software or the data on the portable recording medium do not match, the contents of the portable recording medium cannot be read. For this reason, when a portable recording medium recorded with a database, for example, is rented, the borrower can only read the database from the borrowed portable recording medium. Even if the borrower copies the database read from the borrowed portable recording medium onto another storage unit, the medium ID which is recorded as the key to the database will not match the medium ID of this other storage unit when an attempt is made to read the database from this other storage unit, and it is impossible to make a reference to the database copied to this other storage unit. As a result, the unauthorized use of the contents recorded on the portable recording medium can positively be prevented.
Furthermore, when the medium ID is added to the portable recording medium, the medium ID can also be used as management information of the portable recording medium. In other words, when the portable recording medium is lost or stolen, it is possible to read the medium ID from the portable recording medium when the portable recording medium is found, and from the read medium ID, it is possible to specify the owner of the portable recording medium when the medium ID managed by the owner is known.
As described above, when the medium ID is added to the portable recording medium, various advantageous effects can be obtained. But on the other hand, the method of adding the different medium ID on each portable recording medium by carrying out the irreversible recording by the stamper or the like at the production stage of the portable recording medium leads to the necessity to additionally provide the process of adding the medium ID with respect to the portable recording medium which is already completed and inspected. Consequently, there were problems in that the production process became complicated and the production cost became high. In addition, there was another problem in that this method cannot add the medium ID on the existing portable recording medium.
On the other hand, a method of recording a medium ID in a reserved region of the portable recording medium was proposed in a Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.9-198778, for example. The medium ID is generated based on a consecutive number which is assigned to each medium drive, and the medium ID is recorded in the reserved region if the medium ID is not recorded in the reserved region of the portable recording medium. According to this proposed method, it is possible to add the medium ID on the existing portable recording medium because this proposed method does not carry out an irreversible recording by use of a stamper or the like at the production stage of the portable recording medium. However, since this proposed method generates the medium ID based on the consecutive number which is assigned to each medium drive, there was a problem in that the management of the medium IDs and the management of the portable recording mediums become complicated and troublesome to perform, because the medium IDs which are generated may become inconsistent even for the same user. That is, the medium drive of the user may break down, and a substitute medium drive may be used while the broken medium drive is being repaired. In addition, the medium drive may be damaged and replaced by a new medium drive. In such cases, the consecutive number assigned to the substitute or new medium drive becomes different from the consecutive number assigned to the original medium drive, and even though the user is the same, the medium IDs generated when the original medium drive was used and the medium IDs generated when the substitute or new medium drive is used become inconsistent.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a novel and useful storage unit, storage medium and identification information recording method, in which the problems described above are eliminated.
Another and more specific object of the present invention is to provide a storage unit, storage medium and identification information recording method which are capable of recording identification information on a portable recording medium so that management of the identification information and management of the portable recording medium are facilitated.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a storage unit for recording on a portable recording medium identification information which is peculiar to the portable recording medium, comprising number generation means for generating a firmware management number based on a version number of a firmware of the storage unit and a number of times the firmware is installed in past in the storage unit and other storage units, information generation means for generating the identification information based on at least a medium generation consecutive number which indicates a number of times the identification information is recorded on portable recording mediums and the firmware management number, and recording means for recording the identification information on the portable recording medium. According to the storage unit of the present invention, the identification information is not generated based on a consecutive number which is assigned to each medium drive. The present invention generates the identification information based on the firmware management number and the medium generation consecutive number or the timer value, and thus, consistency of the generated identification information is maintained with respect to the same user, even if the medium drive breaks down and is replaced by a substitute drive or the medium drive is damaged and is replaced by new medium drive and the consecutive number assigned to the substitute or new medium drive is different from the original medium drive. Therefore, the identification information and the portable recording medium can both be managed with ease, and the identification information can be recorded on the portable recording medium so that the tracking or investigation of the portable recording medium is facilitated when a failure or the like is generated.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a storage unit for recording on a portable recording medium identification information which is peculiar to the portable recording medium, comprising number generation means for generating a firmware management number based on a version number of a firmware of the storage unit and a number of times the firmware is installed in past in the storage unit and other storage units, information generation means for generating the identification information based on at least time information which indicates a time when the portable recording medium is created and the firmware management number, and recording means for recording the identification information on the portable recording medium. According to the storage unit of the present invention, the identification information is not generated based on a consecutive number which is assigned to each medium drive. The present invention generates the identification information based on the firmware management number and the medium generation consecutive number or the timer value, and thus, consistency of the generated identification information is maintained with respect to the same user, even if the medium drive breaks down and is replaced by a substitute drive or the medium drive is damaged and is replaced by new medium drive and the consecutive number assigned to the substitute or new medium drive is different from the original medium drive. Therefore, the identification information and the portable recording medium can both be managed with ease, and the identification information can be recorded on the portable recording medium so that the tracking or investigation of the portable recording medium is facilitated when a failure or the like is generated.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a computer readable storage medium which stores a program for causing a computer to record on a portable recording medium identification information which is peculiar to the portable recording medium, comprising number generation means for causing the computer generate a firmware management number based on a version number of a firmware of the computer and a number of times the firmware is installed in past in the computer and other computers, information generation means for causing the computer to generate the identification information based on at least a medium generation consecutive number which indicates a number of times the identification information is recorded on portable recording mediums and the firmware management number, and recording means for causing the computer to record the identification information on the portable recording medium. According to the storage medium of the present invention, the identification information is not generated based on a consecutive number which is assigned to each medium drive. The present invention generates the identification information based on the firmware management number and the medium generation consecutive number or the timer value, and thus, consistency of the generated identification information is maintained with respect to the same user, even if the medium drive breaks down and is replaced by a substitute drive or the medium drive is damaged and is replaced by new medium drive and the consecutive number assigned to the substitute or new medium drive is different from the original medium drive. Therefore, the identification information and the portable recording medium can both be managed with ease, and the identification information can be recorded on the portable recording medium so that the tracking or investigation of the portable recording medium is facilitated when a failure or the like is generated.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a computer readable storage medium which stores a program for causing a computer to record on a portable recording medium identification information which is peculiar to the portable recording medium, comprising number generation means for causing the computer to generate a firmware management number based on a version number of a firmware of the computer and a number of times the firmware is installed in past in the computer and other computers, information-generation means for causing the computer to generate the identification information based on at least time information which indicates a time when the portable recording medium is created and the firmware management number, and recording means for causing the computer to record the identification information on the portable recording medium. According to the storage medium of the present invention, the identification information is not generated based on a consecutive number which is assigned to each medium drive. The present invention generates the identification information based on the firmware management number and the medium generation consecutive number or the timer value, and thus, consistency of the generated identification information is maintained with respect to the same user, even if the medium drive breaks down and is replaced by a substitute drive or the medium drive is damaged and is replaced by new medium drive and the consecutive number assigned to the substitute or new medium drive is different from the original medium drive. Therefore, the identification information and the portable recording medium can both be managed with ease, and the identification information can be recorded on the portable recording medium so that the tracking or investigation of the portable recording medium is facilitated when a failure or the like is generated.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an identification information recording method for recording on a portable recording medium used by a computer identification information which is peculiar to the portable recording medium, comprising a number generation step generating a firmware management number based on a version number of a firmware of the computer and a number of times the firmware is installed in past in the computer and other computers, an information generation step generating the identification information based on at least a medium generation consecutive number which indicates a number of times the identification information is recorded on portable recording mediums and the firmware management number, and a recording step recording the identification information on the portable recording medium. According to the identification information recording method of the present invention, the identification information is not generated based on a consecutive number which is assigned to each medium drive. The present invention generates the identification information based on the firmware management number and the medium generation consecutive number or the timer value, and thus, consistency of the generated identification information is maintained with respect to the same user, even if the medium drive breaks down and is replaced by a substitute drive or the medium drive is damaged and is replaced by new medium drive and the consecutive number assigned to the substitute or new medium drive is different from the original medium drive. Therefore, the identification information and the portable recording medium can both be managed with ease, and the identification information can be recorded on the portable recording medium so that the tracking or investigation of the portable recording medium is facilitated when a failure or the like is generated.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an identification information recording method for recording on a portable recording medium used by a computer identification information which is peculiar to the portable recording medium, comprising a number generation step generating a firmware management number based on a version number of a firmware of the computer and a number of times the firmware is installed in past in the computer and other computers, an information generation step generating the identification information based on at least time information which indicates a time when the portable recording medium is created and the firmware management number, and a recording step recording the identification information on the portable recording medium. According to the identification information recording method of the present invention, the identification information is not generated based on a consecutive number which is assigned to each medium drive. The present invention generates the identification information based on the firmware management number and the medium generation consecutive number or the timer value, and thus, consistency of the generated identification information is maintained with respect to the same user, even if the medium drive breaks down and is replaced by a substitute drive or the medium drive is damaged and is replaced by new medium drive and the consecutive number assigned to the substitute or new medium drive is different from the original medium drive. Therefore, the identification information and the portable recording medium can both be managed with ease, and the identification information can be recorded on the portable recording medium so that the tracking or investigation of the portable recording medium is facilitated when a failure or the like is generated.
Other objects and further features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.